Halloweentown (film)
Halloweentown is a 1998 Disney Channel Original Movie released in October 1998. Plot The film begins with Marnie and her mother, Gwen, arguing over why she and her younger siblings Dylan and Sophie can never go out for Halloween and wanting to go to a costume party that the "whole world is going to". Gwen patiently explains, but with no more detail than that, it is little surprise that Marnie still has a problem with her mom's order. Gwen has more or less restored order when her mother Aggie, who is an expert witch shows up for her annual Halloween visit. The kids are happier to see Aggie than Gwen is, and it is soon shown why: Aggie openly encourages the kids to get more involved in all things Halloween, and Gwen is nearly powerless to stop her. Aggie seems especially intent on training Marnie as a witch, since it is Marnie's 13th Halloween. Marnie, of course, has no idea about any of this. Aggie drops a huge hint as she is about to head home: reading the kids a bedtime story, she selects a book called "Halloweentown", and when Sophie sees a drawing of a witch that closely resembles her big sister, Aggie does nothing to stop Marnie from imagining such a thing. Gwen and Aggie get into an argument about all of this, and Gwen insists Marnie will be raised as a normal person and not a witch. Aggie says she disagrees with this, but actually she is there for another reason: people have started disappearing. Gwen thinks they just moved, but Aggie says it is not that simple. Aggie desperately asks for Gwen's help, but Gwen declines. Aggie does not see Marnie and Dylan getting off the bus. At the same time, Marnie and Dylan don't see Sophie getting off the bus. Dylan notices her, and Marnie asks what she's doing here. Sophie says she was only pretending to sleep; she heard everything Marnie told Dylan, and followed them. They all begin to look for Aggie who they have lost when they are approached by Kalabar, the Mayor of Halloweentown. He whistles for the cab which is driven by Benny, who is a skeleton with a bad sense of humor. The three siblings find their grandmother's home, and against her better judgment, Aggie decides not to take them home immediately. She says she'll start Marnie's witch training, but has to take care of the bad thing first. She shows her grandchildren what she is talking about: in the cauldron, a vision of a hooded demon appears, laughing maniacally. In town, Marnie discovers a broom shop, and the family is introduced to Luke, who looks like a normal human kid. He makes a clumsy pass at Marnie, which she turns down on the spot. Benny had earlier explained that Luke was once looked a Goblin, but claimed a shadow demon made him handsome. Gwen can't find another bus back to the mortal world upon being told by a Two-Headed Ticket Person that there isn't one coming. When Gwen tries to see if the mayor can do anything, she is shocked to see that Mayor Kalabar was her old boyfriend. When Kalabar briefly leaves to handle another problem, Gwen and her kids see Aggie walking somewhere with Luke. Sensing Aggie might be in trouble, they follow Aggie and Luke to an abandoned movie theatre. Once inside, Gwen and Aggie find themselves battling the hooded demon that they had previously seen in the cauldron. The demon freezes Aggie and Gwen with an evil spell, and suddenly Marnie finds herself in charge. She decides to finish what Aggie started, with some help from Dylan and Sophie, by gathering the ingredients for the witch’s brew that will hopefully make the talisman work which include the hair sample of a werewolf, the sweat of a ghost, and the fang of a vampire. They are successful, and soon find themselves battling the demon, who reveals himself to be none other than Kalabar himself. With the help of Luke, who has realized the error of his ways, Marnies slips past Kalabar long enough to climb up onto a large jack-o'-lantern in the center of the town and try to place the talisman inside. Kalabar, finally noticing her, tries to freeze her. Just as she is about to pass out the talisman drops from her hand and lands in the holder inside the jack-o'-lantern, lighting it and unfreezing Aggie and Gwen, as well as all the other Halloweentown citizens whom Kalabar had trapped in the theatre. After they wake Gwen and Aggie rust to the kids to find out what happened. Marnie, Gwen and Aggie confront Kalabar. Kalabar is apparently bitter over the fact that their kind was forced to relocate to this new world because humans wouldn't accept them, and that Gwen passed him over years ago for a mortal man. Aggie, Gwen and Marnie then try to vanquish Kalabar but the three of them alone aren't enough. Sophie has also been showing signs of possessing magic, and Dylan, when angered, also displays powers himself despite trying to deny it. The five of them combine their powers and destroy Kalabar using the talisman. Gwen agrees to let Marnie start witch training and even invites Aggie to live with them. The film ends with the family going on to the bus to the mortal world, with a happy goodbye and thanks with Luke as the bus driver, and blast off. The movie ends with a blackout after they go out unto the sky to the mortal world. Cast *Debbie Reynolds - Splendora Agatha "Aggie" Cromwell * Judith Hoag - Gwen Piper * Kimberly J. Brown - Marnie Piper * Joey Zimmerman - Dylan Piper * Emily Roeske - Sophie Piper * Phillip Van Dyke - Luke * Robin Thomas - Kalabar, the Mayor of Halloweentown and the main antagonist of the film. He appears very friendly to Marnie, Dylan and Sophie when they first come to Halloweentown, mostly though because he has history with their mother. * Rino Romano - Benny (Voice), the skeleton taxi-driver with a good heart. Helps Marnie, Dylan and Sophie with rides around town and just someone to talk too. Trivia *Halloweentown appears as a City in the Countryside, unlike the other films. *Aggie states that they used to get great movies. She is then startled by the fact that the theater is closed. this is contradicting seeing as she knew previously that the theater was closed. Unless of course, the thester used to get great movies, but the movies they had more recently were not as good. Sequels Halloweentown was followed by three sequels; Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge, Halloweentown High, and Return to Halloweentown. See also * Disney Channel's Hauntober Fest * Halloweentown series Category:Films Category:Halloweentown Category:Halloweentown 2